Brigade 02
by LZ0291
Summary: Four years have passed since the Digidestined last saved the world. It's a new school year and a new school for Takeru, Hikari, and Daisuke, as they become High Schoolers. But what's this club that Hikari has joined?
1. The Crossing Takeru Pt 1

I'm still wondering how exactly it was I'd got here.

The obvious answer is I went up the slight slope to get to the school. But this isn't a literal question, this is more philosophical. Quite frankly at this stage I'd be very happy to discover I'm a butterfly dreaming he's a man, because it couldn't get any weirder after that. No, how did I, Takeru "TK" Takaishi, wind up being press-ganged into a completely insane club? How did I wind up being unwillingly dragged along in my friend Hikari "Kari" Kamiya's wake once again? The answer is this started about four years ago at a costume party for Halloween. Not the one that was organised by Tai last year, we don't speak about that one... But this one was where it happened. Where Kari learned that she enjoyed cosplaying.

She'd always been a fan of the Pokemon games and stuff. Not an obsessive fan, of course, but she liked it. It was pretty confusing to Gatomon, who had an intense disliking for a certain yellow Mascot of the franchise. But the problem was there was a character in the anime now called Hikari. It wasn't a big stretch of the imagination to see what she dressed up as. And then two weeks later, she decided to go to a convention. Me and Davis, dragged along in confusion, her in the costume she'd worn at the party. Tricked into carrying her camera and everything she bought. We also discovered that as well as Pokemon, she had a liking for other manga and Anime. Well, she wasn't a full-blown Otaku at least, just an occasional cosplayer

Davis, in spite of his oft-proclaimed love for Kari and how he would be devoted to her forever etc, didn't even bother with an excuse and bluntly stated that he wasn't really happy to spend a whole day carrying bags for Kari. It helped that he had rather obviously been hamming up the whole "Kari is my one true love" angle since well before we beat MaloMyotismon, and it was just a running joke by the stage we were dragged as unwilling helpers. Kari was even convinced Davis was actually not saying his real reason for being worried, that his actual girlfriend at the time would have been annoyed to learn her boyfriend was carrying cameras and shopping for another girl.

I unfortunately had no girlfriend to use as an unspoken excuse, and really, what else would I have been doing on the days of most of those conventions? Basketball matches were always held in the evenings, the conventions were sundays or saturdays, and chances are I'd have wound up hanging around with the other Digidestined anyway. I also was unfortunate to have been raised as a nice guy, and therefore a friend in need was hard to say no to. And so, reluctantly, I would agree each time.

Now, at this point some of you will be thinking that because I'm a guy and Kari is a girl, I was only agreeing because I was attracted to her or something. That's not the case. Others did accuse me of that jokingly, but I knew they were joking then. But that's a strange thing too. During all that, as far as I know, Kari went out with four guys. It never lasted long, but she never had any messy breakups, none of her boyfriends accusing her of spending more time with another guy. But she never asked them along to these conventions where she dressed up as Sailor Moon or something. Still, her own attempts at making relationships at least got off the ground even if they had to land shortly after.

A strange double standard seemed to emerge as a result of the conventions. Though Kari hanging around with a boy other than her boyfriend didn't discourage boys asking her out, or even vice-versa, it seemed that me hanging around with a girl caused other girls to think I was taken, and more than one attempt on my part to ask a girl out had led to said girl thinking I'd broken up with, or was cheating on, Kari. This meant that confusingly, I was left agreeing to Kari's requests because I had no excuse such as a girlfriend who would be displeased, and I had no girlfriend to be displeased because they thought Kari already was my girlfriend. Even weirder, there were girls who didn't hide the fact they had crushes on me. But even they would turn me down if I asked them out because by and large they all liked Kari. Most of them even seriously tried to encourage me to just ask her out, but I have my reasons.

So, when High School rolled around I was thinking perhaps Kari might find something else to do, or that I might be able to finally ask out a girl who didn't think I was on the rebound or cheating. Little did I know that barely two weeks in, I'd find myself not only going still with Kari to the conventions, but also in a club that would on the weekends be demanding any other spare time I had...

* * *

It was the smart choice to go here. Everyone else had gone here. My older brother, Kari's brother Tai, all the older Digidestined. Even Ken was attending here with Yolei, in their second year, and Izzy was finishing off his third. Everyone else was now in college or university except me, Kari, Davis, and Cody, who was still down in middle school.

"So, how much do you know about the school? And I don't mean the stuff they put in those little brochures." Yolei asked, back a few months ago, just after we'd all finished our entrance exams. Us in our green Odaiba Junior High uniforms Me, Kari, Davis, and Yolei in her blue and white high school uniform.

I had to pause there. I knew it was a fairly respected school, decent grade averages, respectable sports competition, all the stuff your average high school had that was brought up to show how nice a school it was. But at the time, I'd overheard a few kids from the East Junior High had been talking about a former pupil of their school that now attended... Well, now it's our school, I guess, so this star pupil of East Junior is probably wandering around this high school as well.

"Well, a girl I spoke to from East Junior High had something to say I thought was interesting..." Kari spoke up first.

"Aha, I thought you'd have heard about that. Well, it's pretty much all true. Well, the more sane stuff at least. She's in the class next to mine..."

I'd made the mistake of blocking out their conversation, for I'm sure now if I'd listened there might have been clues in what they said that could have helped prevent what happened. I could have easily listened to the gossip mill, but instead I did something foolish.

I spoke to Davis instead, about "those little brochures" Yolei had mentioned

"Hey, was it me, or did they have too many clubs that did the same thing?"

"I thought that too. There's two Computer clubs, three book clubs, about seven anime clubs... I think the only club that didn't have something that did the same thing was the Calligraphy Club... " He replied.

"...And everyone but him sees it's pretty obvious. By the way, guys, the reason there's two Computer clubs is that ours is an actual working group of people who use real computers for real things, not just messing about making videogames and homebrew versions of Unix like the so-called Research Society. Anyway..." Yolei had said, interrupting herself to interrupt us, and then going straight back to her conversation. It was a skill most of us found unnerving. Well, most of us with a y-chromosome at any rate.

"Uh, okay... I guess she doesn't like the other computer club much..."

"You think?" I said.

Two seemingly idle conversations, but while we guys eventually started talking about the other random nonsense of the day, I was unaware of what Kari was hearing from Yolei. Eventually though we neared the first of our homes, Davis walking down a side street. Shortly after, Kari went her own way, and since Yolei and I lived in the same apartment complex we went the same way.

"So, you two were talking about the clubs yourself. Anything catch your eye?"

"Well, I saw a Basketball Society, but right now I don't see anything I'm really going to join. I'd noticed a Cosplay club though..." I said, hopefully. Yolei just smirked.

"Ah, poor little hopeful Takeru. You're thinking Kari will join that club, and your torture at the conventions is over... Well, the little promotional pamphlet doesn't tell you the other stuff about the school..."

"Like what?"

She seemed about to speak, but her evil smirk stayed in place as she paused.

"Ah... Well, maybe you can learn later. And maybe you should have paid attention to the clubs Kari said she was interested in."

* * *

It wasn't long after we all learned we'd been accepted, though Davis insisted he'd failed under his own name but passed as "John Terry" and demanded we all pretended that was his real name now, a joke he forgot about by the time we were in the school. After the morning fuss that happens at every new school year. First a welcoming ceremony, then class assignments. Me, Davis, and Kari wound up in the same class and seated near each other, which led onto the whole class introducing ourselves.

We then had our first day as high school students, and it came to an end soon enough. At the end of the day, our teacher encouraged us to go around the various club rooms that would be in session right now, see what they did, and if we were interested, apply to join.

As it turned out, those clubs Kari had been interested in were the Photography Club, The Literary Club, and at first, The Cosplay Club, but when she'd learned that odds were she'd be the only girl in that club she seemed to lose interest. The Photography Club as it turned out, was set to close as all the previous members had left, and the last second year remaining desired to leave, so there was no one there to represent it. I'd considered the Literary Club myself, but to be honest, they didn't seem much like one from their apparent efforts to get people to join.

They had two of their five members, thankfully female, wearing some kind of Chinese dresses presumably to try and attract new members into the fold. A loud second year girl with yellow ribbons in her hair, and a nervous-looking third year. Not that they weren't bad to look at of course, but I found myself wondering what exactly the connection between that and books was. The other members were a guy who seemed to never stop smiling, a guy who seemed to be a little annoyed by his clubmates antics, and a quiet girl who simply sat reading all the while. It seemed that despite all the first years who wandered into that room over the day (Some girls too, including Kari of course), not that many applied to join. Still, the loudest girl of the club seemed pretty enthusiastic about whatever slim number of members she had applying for her group when I'd wandered past.

I was naturally trying out for the Basketball team again, though my reputation from Elementary and Middle School had preceded me and the minute I had entered their clubroom I'd been almost begged to join. The Basketball Club consisted of those who played for fun, and those who desired to compete for the school in official basketball games. Basically, you didn't have to be on the team to be in the club, but to be on the team, you had to officially be a member of the club, even if all you did was attend the team training sessions.

"So did anyone join any clubs?" Davis asked. He had correctly predicted the Basketball from me, and I had predicted correctly that he had joined the Soccer Club, which operated a similar policy. Ken of course was already in that club, to the delight of some of the other Soccer players, since Davis and Ken had both been pretty good players in their previous schools.

"I might be joining one. I'm to go to a meeting at lunchtime, me and some of the other possible new members, to see if we're still interested in applying." Kari said.

"So I guess you won't be having lunch with us then..." Davis sighed theatrically.

At the time, it seemed strange a club that would read books and write poetry or whatever would hold their own entrance exams, but I dismissed it then, for at the same time, the teacher entered and class began.

After Lunch, when Kari returned, she seemed pleased.

"Did you join that club?" Davis asked. She nodded.

"Well, I think so. The previous members have to approve, she said."

Democratic membership approval? What literature did they study, Dan Brown novels? It's a high school club, not a shadowy cabal that rules the universe! That question about what they were really doing was back.

"Only three people had applied to join, and the second year in charge had been prepared for people looking for similar clubs. She listened to the other two and figured they'd be better off in different clubs, and gave them the right information to apply. When she came to me she looked a little disappointed..." Kari continued.

"Wait, this sounds weird. Why would a club for literature go to all these lengths?" I asked.

Davis and Kari seemed to know a joke I didn't.

"...It's officially the Literary Club, but it's actually something else." Davis said.

"What is it then?" I asked. Kari paused for a little before she spoke.

"It's a little hard to explain right away."

Oh. Thank you, my oldest friend, for your prompt and detailed answer.

"But anyway, when I told her why I wanted to join, she brightened up. She asked if I believed in the supernatural, like ghosts and things, so, I said yes. I told her about... Well, Wizardmon. Edited of course, but the fact I'd told her I thought I may have seen a ghost seemed to get her really intrigued. Then she asked about my other hobbies, and I told her. I didn't tell her about the Digital World obviously, but she seemed pretty interested when I said about photography and cosplay. She asked a few other things and... Well, she said she thought I was suitable, and she'd consult the other members to finalise it."

Huh, one weird book club.

* * *

It seemed that the other members had accepted Kari, for the very next morning the loud second year girl with the yellow ribbons was standing by Kari's shoe locker waiting for her. She had the guy who had looked a little annoyed a couple of days ago. I didn't listen to the conversation as I put my own shoes away, and told Kari I'd go on ahead to class. For some reason, when I did that, the loud second year seemed to notice me for the first time as I was leaving.

"...Wow, that guy was pretty tall..."

Yes, I noticed. People keep joking and asking why a third-year is in the first year classrooms. Anyway, soon enough, Kari came into the class behind me, and we learned that she had indeed been accepted into the group. I made a mistake and misheard the name here, leading to this short exchange:

"You joined the SAS? Have you been playing Modern Warfare too much?"

"No, dummy, clean out your ears." Davis said, without telling me what she had really said.

Well, it wasn't important. So long as Kari was happy with her new club, and maybe, just maybe, she might convince one of those two second year guys to go with her to conventions, or one of those three girls. After all, I thought, Manga is literature isn't it? Those conventions have novelists and writers there too, right?

And so the school day went on. Nothing truly significant happened, all talk of Kari's club faded away to be replaced with education. A few other guys in the class seemed to want to talk to me and Davis about previous sporting achievements, and that was fine. However, come the end of the school day, I had to use a scanner to copy something. My own one at home was acting up, and so, I wondered if maybe a club in the school had one spare. It seemed that the computer labs here themselves had no scanners, and the photocopier was not for use by pupils.

There were two clubs that seemed an obvious place to start. The Yolei-Cursed Research Society, and the Yolei-Patronised Development Group. It seemed that the latter of these two had been the older, but the Research Society had been more academically successful somefhow, and was thus regarded by the school as the senior of the two groups and allowed to be given school funding. The Development Group by contrast, had to pay for it themselves. Bearing that in mind and the fact that Yolei would talk me to death while I was trying to use their scanner, I headed to the Research Society, where no one knew me and the scanner they had was a model that had first went on sale this century. The Society President didn't mind me borrowing it, but while I was scanning the first sheet, there was a loud noise from the room next door.

"A top basketball player?"

The Research Society glanced up from their screens, staring at the wall. They looked a little alarmed.

"This doesn't sound good for whoever she's talking about..." The President said. His subordinates nodded.

"Was he that guy this morning?" The voice said again, not as loud but still clear. There was presumably an unheard, less loud reply.

"Ah, good. He's quite cute too actually, that'll help add some more appeal too. We have our senior cosplay mascot of course, but the younger girls of the school won't be interested in the older males of the group we have. He'll be a good way for the schools girls to be more interested in our group and it's only fair that if we have cute women we should at least have one handsome guy!"

Someone else spoke, loud, but not really loud enough to hear.

"Hmm, good point, it's only fair we hear more about him and vote." The loud voice said. It sounded familiar. Another pause as someone with an indoor voice spoke.

There was another longer pause, the occasional sound of a louder-than-normal voice, but now down to levels that didn't come through the wall.

"What club is next door anyway?" I asked.

"The Literary Club." A Research Society member said.

"Also known as..." Another began, only for a loud voice next door to cut him off.

"His grandfather is French? Can he speak French too? Oh. Well, a little is better than none. Well, he gets my votes. A tall, blonde, handsome, French-speaking athletic underclassman."

The Society Members looked at me. They saw my height. They saw my hair.

"You said you were a first year?" One asked.

I felt a chill run up my spine. For some reason I was frozen in place like I'd just made eye contact with a Cockatrimon...

"Are you nearly finished with that?" The President asked when I had eventually nodded that yes, I may be the first year the wall is talking about. I nodded again.

"Good, because if she asks where you are right now I think it might be goodbye. It was nice meeting you."

I scanned and printed the last thing I needed done, just as the voice next door asked the dreaded question the farsighted Research Society President had predicted.

"Where is he just now?"

I looked at the window... It was only two or three floors... I'm sure I could have softened the blow with my legs and maybe crawl the rest of the way, but before I could try the voice spoke once more.

"Really? Well, let's see if he's still there..."

A door wrenched open from the next room. The door behind me slammed open. I turned around like a rabbit in the headlights.

The brunette second year with the yellow ribbons in her hair stood there, smiling like a serial killer or something.

"Are you Takeru Takaishi?" She asked. A second later, I don't know what my answer was, but it seemed the girl had heard yes, for I was dragged out of the room with surprising strength.

"Poor kid..." I heard someone mutter as I was dragged away.

* * *

As you may have guessed, Kari wasn't hiding her smirk at my fate. Here I was, a guy taller than some university students, being dragged around by a lightly built second year girl who seemed to think I was a perfect addition to her club. I was pulled into the room next door, where the Literary Club or whatever they were sat. The quiet girl glanced up from her book. The third year girl... was wearing a maid outfit? The two guys were playing chess against each other, and the disinterested one that had been following the yellow-ribboned girl around earlier seemed to be winning.

Oh, yeah, he's winning all right. Checkmate in two or three no matter what.

Wait a minute, maid outfit?

"Now, Takeru, I've already had Kari explain all about you..."

I hope not. Oh yeah, Kari's there as well of course, sitting there looking very innocent and sweet... Which means she's enjoying herself to see her evil schemes in action!

"...But I want to ask you directly if you are willing to join!"

At this, the second year guy who was about to win his game of chess spoke up.

"Wait, you never asked the rest of us!"

"Yes I did, every one of you could easily have said no. Besides, that was last year's recruitment rules, while we were a fledgling group. But now, as an established brigade we must ensure our recruits are the best of the best of the best!"

He stared at her, an exasperated look on his face. Kari was looking at me, still smiling a little, but there was a pleading look in her eyes.

Oh great. I don't have an actual choice here, do I?

"How would it affect any other clubs I'm in?" I said, knowing I was only in the Basketball club to be in the team, which meant I had to attend training on Wednesday and Friday, or Monday and Friday if there was a Wednesday game. Saturday was the chosen evening for most games just now though.

"Well, normally I ask for full dedication to the brigade, but in your case one of the reasons we think you're suitable to join is your athletic ability. The brigade needs to be seen in public, and having a member be a prominent member of the basketball team would do wonders! I've heard a lot of the new first years are interested in watching the basketball team this year..." Yellow-Ribbons said.

Kari stood and whispered something in Yellow-Ribbon's ears. The second year girl grinned, and headed to the computer.

"Aaah... Perfect! You're meeting requirements already! One final check though..."

What requirements were these, I wondered, and it seemed so did the winner of the chess game. He stood and looked at the screen too.

"Do you believe in the supernatural and the strange? In aliens and espers and time travellers and ghosts?" Ribbons continued.

I was puzzled by this, but I had an answer fast enough.

"Well... I'd say I've got an open mind on most of those things but I'm pretty sure half of all UFO's are just secret government projects..."

"What about the other half?"

"...Um, ghosts playing jokes on us."

What the hell, I thought, maybe she'd think I was crazy. But then, she smiled like I'd just told her she had won the lottery.

"An excellent theory! Real aliens would have stealth technology and cloaking abilities, so most unidentified objects in the sky must be just top-secret fighter planes and spy drones, but until now I thought the aliens must have been making mistakes and being seen for the rest of the times! But your theory is much more sensible, ghosts drawing attention away from themselves by having us look at the skies!"

How did she get to that conclusion? It does make an alarming amount of sense though.

"So, then, Takeru. You have all the necessary requirements. It falls to me to ask: do you want to join?"

People only ever call me Takeru when I'm in trouble, or they've got the upper hand over me with something. I didn't think it was a coincidence that this girl was using my full name.

I then made the mistake of looking at Kari, and her pleading eyes. I sighed.

"Well, so long as it's not going to clash with my Basketball training..."

"Excellent! Each member of the brigade has one or more roles. Kari for example is going to be Junior Member Number One, Cosplayer Semi-Professional and Part-Time Mascot..."

Wait, mascot? Is that why the third year is in the maid outfit? That maid outfit? Will Kari wear that? It's a little big around a certain area for Kari by the looks of it but... Ah, never mind. Anyway, Ribbons was still talking.

"...Brigade Photographer and Public Relations Agent! Your roles are Junior Member Number Two, Assistant Cosplayer Semi-Professional..."

I was a little dismayed to hear that, because I knew what it meant right away. She kept going though.

"...And High-Profile Sports Personality!"

"Wait, if Kamiya is to be our photographer does that mean she'll be holding the camera this time?" The second-year who had won his chess game said.

"Hmm... Possibly. We may need to test something. The previous film was well directed and well acted, but on occasion the camerawork was a little off, usually when tracking a moving object. Maybe Kari is better at that... " Yellow-Ribbons replied, still looking at the computer.

Hey, wait a minute... What was she looking at to tell Kari could track a moving object?

"I have a question though. I don't actually know what this group does, or even what it is. Or even what your names are."

"Oh no, here she goes again..." The victorious chess player said, holding his face in one palm. Yellow-Ribbons stood from the computer seat.

"Our mission is easy! To seek out the unusual, the supernatural and the strange!"

That was it. Well, simple plans are often the best.

"And as for names... We are the SOS Brigade, and I am the Brigade Chief, Haruhi Suzumiya!"

At the time, my though process went like this: '_I've heard that name before... Uh oh._'

"Itsuki Koizumi, Vice Commander!" She said, marching over to the smiling guy who sucked at chess.

"Pleased to meet you." He said, still smirking.

'_Hmm, Itsuki Koizumi, Vice Commander. Sounds like a cop show..._'

"Mikuru Asahina, Moe Mascot!" She said, standing by the third-year maid.

Well, if you ever see Mikuru Asahina, you can imagine my thought process at getting a proper look at her. Especially in that maid getup.

"H-Hello..." Mikuru said nervously.

"Yuki Nagato, Silent Character!"

The upperclasswoman in question glanced up from her book and nodded. '_Well, her role seems easy enough... Cute too..._'

"Kari you of course know... And finally, Kyon." She motioned to the second year boy behind her.

"Just Kyon?" I asked, confused.

"Actually, that's a nickname, my real name is..."

"Quiet, Kyon."

* * *

And that was it. I was now a member of a group that did... I don't know what. It seemed that for today, we were just going to sit around and listen as Suzumiya planned the year ahead. Asahina served everyone tea, which wasn't really my preferred drink, but it wasn't bad and I wouldn't be rude enough to decline. Kyon interrupted Suzumiya occasionally, to question some of her crazier plans. Koizumi sat and agreed with everything. Nagato sat and read her book. Kari sat like me and listened.

"Oh, there's the issue of the camerawork for the sequel to The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina. I think we need to test the camera before. I have a perfect plan how! Since Kyon and Kari are the two candidates for the camera, we can test which of them is best for tracking motion and for less active shots."

"What do you plan to film in motion exactly?" Kyon asked. Suzumiya chuckled, then pointed at me.

"Our newest member is a skilled basketball player! We merely have him play a game against someone and the objective is to track the ball!"

"Who would be his opponent?" Koizumi asked.

"Hmm... Well, I'd need to watch the camera team to ensure they were doing their job properly... So I think the only real candidate is you. Have you played basketball before?"

"Not much, but I know the game." He said. I wondered at this time if he ever stopped smiling. I wish I could feel that cheery all the time.

"Excellent! We'll test the camera team tomorrow instead of a meeting here!" Suzumiya said enthusiastically, bringing the meeting to a close.

And sealing my fate for the next few years.

* * *

**Authors Note**

This story was first uploaded to my dA account one year ago, and so, I decided to use it to try test the waters and figure out the differences between the uploading systems.

As for the story itself, well, it was a random idea a year ago. The plan, such as it was, was to have interchanging chapters with narration from Takeru, and then from Kyon. Currently there's only a second chapter from Kyon's POV extra to this story other than a few snippets within story collections in my dA profile, but hopefully someone here enjoys this story. I'm not expecting a lot really, I just want to spread out my stories onto other places, and try and get other input into them if possible.

I'll probably try to avoid Authors Notes as a general rule though. Chances are they'd just be artists comments from dA repeated here in most cases, and I'd like to avoid trying to draw attention to specific things in stories or that I'm doing. If I use them it will be simply to fill in the history of a story where I think it's relevant. Certainly there will be no more author's notes in this one :)


	2. The Crossing  Kyon Pt 1

The new school year brought at first almost no change. I remained in Class 5, Haruhi Suzumiya remained in Class 5, and Okabe-sensei had a fit of laziness and decreed the seating arrangements would be unchanged except to accommodate new students moved in from other classes weeks before the new term began. Whatever the reason behind this choice, I was not in support of it, for this meant Haruhi would remain behind me. Even just a few seats away to keep her happy and give me some form of warning to brace for impact...

The only minor changes were that a few classmates had went into other classes, replaced by others moved in a similar manner. It seemed Okabe-sensei hoped to get a new class leader out of his new students. One of the candidates, Ichijouji-san, stood by the door, his girlfriend with him. They were once more in separate classes and had elected to share a romantic goodbye until lunch. This however merely drove one of Ichijouji-san's new classmates to envy.

"Look at him, flaunting his catch in front of us mere mortals..." Taniguchi muttered. His anger at the two lovebirds was cut short to my listening as Haruhi herself arrived.

"Kyon, today's the day! After class remember we have to look our best when in session, so we can give good bait to new students to join the Brigade! With my plan we'll catch them hook, line and sinker!" She said.

What's with all these fishing metaphors today? I dread to find her plan too. She refers to the end of the day where the new intake of students will tour the various clubs in session, and possibly pick a club out to join. But no doubt some horrendous plot was in store.

However, it turned out the plan was not too horrific. Haruhi and Asahina-san both wore Cheongsams, both looking quite delightful to be honest, and so, the first years who wandered in largely saw an oddly calm SOS Brigade meeting, for Haruhi was pretending once more to be the Literary Club. Haruhi was oddly enthusiastic at the end of the day, with only three names of applicants on her sheet...

"Tomorrow I'll interview all three to test their suitability for the Brigade, then we will all vote! Rest well for the year ahead tonight!" She said as she left.

Well, you don't have to tell me twice. No homework for the first day, I think an early night is in order. Goodness knows I'll never have a long rest in the mornings anytime soon.

* * *

True to her word, Haruhi indeed interviewed her three candidates at lunchtime, and for once had asked me to stay away. I made the most of this brief spell of peace, which of course did not last nearly as long as I hoped. Haruhi returned, clutching a small folder.

"What's in that? More flyers?" I asked, a feeling of dread.

"Nope, top secret documents! Chief's Eyes only at this time!"

Well, fair enough, I'm sure whatever it is it can horrify me when the time comes.

"It's the information on the successful candidate who has applied to join the Brigade!"

Successful? There were three.

"Yes, and two of them were as expected unsuitable. However, it is in the best interests of the Brigade to redirect those who have come to us in error to their optimum place in life. They were more likely to fit in to other clubs, and so I gave them application forms to the right places. Our own membership standards must be exacting and demanding! We must ensure that for the good of the brigade we only recruit those as good as or better than our current roster!" Haruhi proclaimed.

Well, since I'm in the Brigade I guess that should make it a little less stringent than you say.

"Don't be so self-depreciating, you're not allowed. Only I can be dismissive of what you do!"

* * *

Haruhi entered the clubroom with her usual enthusiasm, thrusting a sheet of paper into each of our hands. Some randomly-organised notes and a photo of a smiling first year looked back, with brown hair down just past her shoulders. Kamiya Hikari, also known as Kari. Interests: Photography, Cosplay, Videogames. Ready to investigate the supernatural and question the mysterious. Brother was a student at the school previously... There was a random assortment of information, and it seemed to be very little told me anything about who Kamiya "Kari" Hikari really was or why Haruhi wanted her in the club, except two little words: Photography. Cosplay.

Oh, and there was also a segment blacked out by ink. It seemed to say something about "Likes" but the rest was obliterated by a careful yet obviously energetic application of a ballpoint pen.

"This is the information on our new applicant. I want you to read it, make comments or ask any questions, and then we will vote to see if we agree she is suitable. As Chief, I have four votes, and each of you have one."

"She seems to be an ideal candidate, Suzumiya-san." Koizumi said. How could you be able to find that in this jumbled up mess?

"It says here she Cosplays, does that mean..." Asahina-san said.

"Oh, no, Mikuru-chan, don't worry, she's not being recruited to replace you, but she could stand in for you in an emergency. After all, this is your third and final year, and so your academic studies may demand more of your free time!" Haruhi said. It seemed at first glance like she was being considerate, but the truth was that Haruhi will likely drag poor Asahina-san from the exam hall if she feels bored enough.

"I see. That's fine."

Haruhi scanned the room. Myself and Nagato were still reading.

"She is acceptable." Nagato then spoke up.

"Okay, so I suppose that's the votes from you all? What about you, Kyon?"

I looked at the picture again. I'd seen her somewhere, probably the day she applied, but she didn't seem unusual at all. Perhaps she really was a normal human being. The blanked out portion made me worried though. I would have to check...

"No problems from me." I said to Haruhi.

"Excellent! By a vote of Seven to One I proclaim that Kamiya Hikari is the SOS Brigade's sixth member and close this meeting! Kyon, be in early tomorrow, you and me are going to tell her the good news in the morning!" She said, heading for the door.

I've no complaints at the short meeting today, but why can't the vice commander do that?

"Because if I am incapacitated it is his role to take over the club! Honestly, Kyon, it's in the Twenty-Fourth Amendment!"

What Twenty-Fourth Amendment? You mean the American laws about the President and Vice-President? I'm pretty sure you mean the Twenty-Fifth... But of course, Haruhi had already left. I waited a moment. It seemed the other Brigade members were thinking with me.

"So, what is she really?" I asked.

"Well, she's not a time traveller, that much is certain." Asahina-san said first.

"I have some knowledge of an unusual factor about her, but Nagato-san can explain more I'm sure." Koizumi said.

"Oh great. So she's another alien?"

"Incorrect. She is a Digidestined." Nagato said.

"Um... Nagato-san, what is a Digidestined? I've never heard the term..." Asahina-san asked.

"The Digidestined are guardians chosen by the Digital World to protect and preserve that world and the beings that reside there. There are approximately three hundred and six individuals around the world who are described as Digidestined, in groups of varying size spread across all six main continents. Many of the Digidestined are chosen between the ages of five and thirteen, though some older individuals have become Digidestined."

"What is this Digital World? Is it related to your Integrated Data Entity?" I asked.

"Negative. The Digital World is terrestrial in origin, though outside factors may have influenced its creation. It is caused by the build-up of information and data of the human global communications network, and has given rise to data lifeforms known as Digimon. The Digidestined either enter the Digital World to keep peace, or prevent attacks on Earth by hostile elements. "

"Great, so she's some kind of computer hopper who goes into a computer world like The Matrix or Tron, and fights computer monsters, or fights them when they come here. How come this group never came up before?"

"Well, until now, there has been no reason for it. The Digidestined and the SOS Brigade are separate entities, and only now is there a crossover between our groups. The Agency of course did do some research into them, but we could determine that to us and to Suzumiya-san, they were mostly harmless." Koizumi answered.

"Well, they've been hiding their activities from the media at least. I guess that's a good sign."

"Well, they did need some assistance it seems. Do you recall the incident where the terrorists used knockout gas over the whole of Odaiba about seven or eight years ago?"

"Not first hand, We were on a foreign vacation that year." I replied.

"Well, that was just one attempted invasion of our world, it seems, thwarted by the Digidestined. There have apparently been other incidents, but we cannot find any conclusive proof. It could be they are doing something to cover their tracks or someone else is helping them, possibly an entity from the Digital World itself."

"Wait... They've been around for eight years minimum? Surely they should have attracted greater attention from your people, Nagato?" I asked. After all, as far as I knew, the Data Entity sounded similar to this Digital World but larger.

"They were not observed until four years ago, at the same time as the space-time event emanating from Suzumiya Haruhi." Nagato said, slamming down a dreadful implication.

It was almost worth it, for Koizumi had the same thought. His face was priceless but I fear mine was worse. For that time period was no coincidence. Nagato's people had scanned us before, and found us not worthy of much attention. Surely they would have found the Digimon then? I had one conclusion...

"Haruhi made them exist now and retroactively into the past, but somehow they managed to remain hidden from the Data Entity."

"...A credible theory." Koizumi admitted, resuming his smile.

"This is possible. Our observations of the planet before do show an anomaly. Data from the internet indicated messages posted from around the world using the term Digimon, approximately ten years from the present date. These messages seemed to indicated that Digimon was a television anime, and that many of those posting were greatly dissatisfied with the ending. All of these posts no longer existed when checked again four years ago, yet the sites and similar posts from ten years ago either remained active or could be reached through archiving services." Nagato explained.

"Perhaps Suzumiya-san was a fan of the show too, and when whatever sparked her into doing the event four years ago happened, she had that on her mind at the same time..." Koizumi said. He was clearly alarmed at the possible implications.

Haruhi had brought television characters to life to play out her own personal, preferred ending. What other horrors were hiding in the dark, brought from a land of fiction that to us, was never anything but a hidden reality? That sense of dread weighed down on me for much of the night and morning after.

* * *

The next morning, it seemed Haruhi had no trust in my early arrival skills, and subsequently had arrived at my home to drag me to school with haste. It meant I was there twenty minutes earlier that I would have been normally, but this meant we were only five minutes before Kamiya-san, who I met properly in person for the first time.

"Hikari-chan, I am pleased to announce that the SOS Brigade has elected to endorse your joining of our elite group by mafjority vote!" Haruhi said. The first year girl smiled, and then bowed.

"Thank you, Suzumiya-san, for allowing me to join." She said. Oh no, please do not let this sweet, innocent, charming and cute young lady become another victim of Haruhi's depravations!

Just then though, both myself, and to my surprise, Haruhi were rendered momentarily speechless by the arrival of a fourth person. A tall, blonde, blue-eyed behemoth rounded the corner, and if he noticed us he made no show of it. He simply changed his shoes. I felt intimidated just by his presence. What if we truly do harm his childhood friend by letting her join this insane club? Will he crush us underfoot?

"I'm going on ahead to class, Kari, see you there." He said. This huge man is a first year? He makes me feel like a midget!

"Okay, TK, I'll be along soon." Kamiya-san waved the colossus goodbye. Haruhi was the first to speak next.

"...Wow, that guy was pretty tall... Your friend?" Haruhi said, and for a brief moment Kamiya-san seemed alarmed.

"Uh, yes, Suzumiya-san. I've known him since we were little."

It's hard to believe that towering fellow is a first year let alone that he was ever "little"...

"Hmm... Well, I'll introduce you to the rest of the brigade later at the meeting after class! See you there!" Haruhi said, before bounding off. I of course, had no choice in following for Haruhi would simply have dragged me if I didn't.

* * *

Haruhi had told me to go ahead to the clubroom, for she was going to meet Kamiya-san and bring her to the meeting. Sure enough, she arrived with the new Brigade member in tow, under her own power surprisingly enough. Perhaps even Suzumiya sees that innocent and frail-looking aura around her, and wasn't prepared to be rough in bringing her here.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet our new member, Kaimya Hikari-Chan."

"Pleased to meet you all." Kamiya-san said, bowing slightly. Oh, you poor girl, you don't know what horrors face you.

"Koizumi Itsuki , Vice Commander!" Haruhi proclaimed, pointing at the esper.

"Greetings, Kamiya-san." He said, with his usual smirk. No doubt she found it charming.

"Asahina Mikuru, the Brigade's Moe Mascot!" Haruhi carried on, pointing at Asahina-san

"Welcome, Kamiya-san" Ashina-san said politely.

"Nagato Yuki , our silent character!"

"Hello" Nagato said, glancing up from her book. Haruhi's pointing then aimed at me.

"And you've met Kyon." She said. I greeted her also.

"Now, Hikari-chan, tell us a little about yourself, your hobbies and interests, friends, that sort of thing."

Didn't you give us a fact sheet?

"Those were just to see if you agreed she was fitting, not to get to know her!"

"Um, well... Obviously I like photography, cosplay, and I occasionally play videogames and read some manga, but I'm not obsessive about them. Some of my friends from my old school are here in North High. Miyako Yolei is a second year, so is Ichijouji Ken. Maybe you know them..."

She knows Inoue-san and Ichijouji-san? Are they Digidestined too?

"...but there's also Izzy... Izumi Koushiro in third year."

"Ah, he's in my class! He's a real computer expert." Asahina-san said. Kamiya-san continued.

"In my year, there's Motomiya Daisuke... We all call him Davis. He's a pretty good Soccer player. And then there's Takaishi Takeru. We all call him TK, and he's great at basketball. He was one of the best players in our old school... In fact, he was the best player I'd say."

Takeru... A boy she's familiar with, so Takeru-Kun, shortened to TK... That's quite sweet actually. Why must she reveal her innocence with every word?

"A top basketball player?" Haruhi shouted. Someone teach this girl to use a more quiet voice indoors!

"Yeah. He was the top player on the team in our Middle School all three years running and he was voted Player of the Year for the whole school district league last year."

"Was he that guy this morning?" Haruhi said. Like a predatory animal, Haruhi had the scent of potential prey. This could not end well.

"Yeah."

"Ah, good. He's quite cute too actually, that'll help add some more appeal too. We have our senior cosplay mascot of course, but the younger girls of the school won't be interested in the older males of the group we have. He'll be a good way for the schools girls to be more interested in our group and it's only fair that if we have cute women we should at least have one handsome guy!"

This sounds like Haruhi has a plan... An alarming plan too in some ways. I had to try and slow her down.

"Perhaps we could hear more about him? Since I presume that you intent to have him join the Brigade also.

"Hmm, good point, it's only fair we hear more about him and vote." Haruhi said.

"Anything else interesting?" She continued.

"Well, his French grandfather told me... " Kamiya-san began, but it seemed that was interesting enough for Haruhi.

"His grandfather is French? Can he speak French too?" Haruhi said, regaining her loud voice.

Kamiya-san shook her head.

"Not fluently, only a little."

"Oh. Well, a little is better than none. Well, he gets my votes. A tall, blonde, handsome, French-speaking athletic underclassman."

"But what if he says no?" I asked.

"Well, Hikari-chan can convince him..."

Surely not.

"Well... If he does say no I could always blackmail him. I've got a lot of things that I can use on him."

Well, never judge a book by its cover! It seemed far from the innocent lamb I though was being brought here like a sacrifice, that we've allowed a devious lioness into our midst! She's no Haruhi, but the wanton cruelty that this polite and seemingly nice young woman had just displayed towards her childhood friend stunned me. And so direct too! She described it in such blunt uncaring terms!

"Where is he just now?" Haruhi asked.

Takaishi-san, I pray to any and all available deities in the area that they have mercy on your soul if you are close by. For they and I know Haruhi won't.

"Actually, he said he needed to borrow a scanner for something. I think he said he was going to try the Computer Research Society..." Kari said.

"Really? Well, let's see if he's still there..."

Haruhi charged out, heading next door.

"Are you Takaishi Takeru ?" She asked. Thankfully, this was all the noise involved before she returned, dragging that tall underclassman from this morning.

I realised now that truly, my perceptions were wrong. In Kamiya-san I had seen a fragile and innocent girl, when she was truly a cruel creature with an angelic disguise! And in Takaishi-san, I had seen nothing but a huge goliath, towering over me and making me think dread thoughts of the furious vengance he could wreak upon us. Yet it seemed he was a gentle giant, wide-eyed and fearful, no idea where his future would lead. I apologise for my rash assumptions!

Still, he did seem normal. Embarrassed at being dragged by a far, far smaller girl, and perhaps still insanely tall, but he did look like a regular human. Though odds were, he was another of these "Digidestined."

"Now, Takeru, I've already had Kari explain all about you..."

She did not tell us you knew of her evil. I hope you do and you are used to dealing with her...

"...But I want to ask you directly if you are willing to join!"

Wait, what about the voting? You never asked the rest of us!

"Yes I did, every one of you could easily have said no. Besides, that was last year's recruitment rules, while we were a fledgling group. But now, as an established brigade we must ensure our recruits are the best of the best of the best!"

I could only stare in confusion.

"How would it affect any other clubs I'm in?" The unfortunate underclassman before us enquired.

"Well, normally I ask for full dedication to the brigade, but in your case one of the reasons we think you're suitable to join is your athletic ability. The brigade needs to be seen in public, and having a member be a prominent member of the basketball team would do wonders! I've heard a lot of the new first years are interested in watching the basketball team this year..."

As Haruhi said this, Kamiya-san whispered something to her. I made a resolution to fear and dread such moments in future. Kamiya-san's true colours were flying proudly now...

"Aaah... Perfect! You're meeting requirements already! One final check though..."

Here we go. The supernatural, the strange. Aliens, Espers, Ghosts, Time Travellers, Sliders, Evil Twins, Digimon...

"Do you believe in the supernatural and the strange? In aliens and espers and time travellers and ghosts?" Harhui continued. Hey, is she reading my mind now or am I really predicting her?

"Well... I'd say I've got an open mind on most of those things but I'm pretty sure half of all UFO's are just secret government projects..." Takaishi-san said.

Only half?

"What about the other half?" Haruhi said. Get out of my head!

"...Um, ghosts playing jokes on us."

What? Is this some sort of joke?

"An excellent theory! Real aliens would have stealth technology and cloaking abilities, so most unidentified objects in the sky must be just top-secret fighter planes and spy drones, but until now I thought the aliens must have been making mistakes and being seen for the rest of the times! But your theory is much more sensible, ghosts drawing attention away from themselves by having us look at the skies!"

Typically disjointed logic from Suzumiya Haruhi.

"So, then, Takeru. You have all the necessary requirements. It falls to me to ask: do you want to join?"

Takaishi-san looked at what he thought was his only current friend in the room, as if seeking guidance. No you fool, she's on their side now!

"Well, so long as it's not going to clash with my Basketball training..." He said.

"Excellent! Each member of the brigade has one or more roles. Kari for example is going to be Junior Member Number One, Cosplayer Semi-Professional and Part-Time Mascot, Brigade Photographer and Public Relations Agent! Your roles are Junior Member Number Two, Assistant Cosplayer Semi-Professional, and High-Profile Sports Personality!"

"Wait, if Kamiya is to be our photographer does that mean she'll be holding the camera this time?" I realised. I had many camera-related queries but Haruhi seemed to get my main meaning for once, for her reply was indeed related to the dreaded sequel to our dreadful movie.

"Hmm... Possibly. We may need to test something. The previous film was well directed and well acted, but on occasion the camerawork was a little off, usually when tracking a moving object. Maybe Kari is better at that... " Haruhi said. Well, it appeared to depend on the object being tracked. If that object has blonde hair and blue eyes, or is spherical and orange Kamiya-san certainly has the credentials to take good still images.

"I have a question though. I don't actually know what this group does, or even what it is. Or even what your names are." Takaishi-san asked in confusion. Oh no, here she goes again...

"Our mission is easy! To seek out the unusual, the supernatural and the strange!"

I swear she changes the mission of the brigade every fifteen seconds. Some day the answer will be to rescue a cat from a tree...

"And as for names... We are the SOS Brigade, and I am the Brigade Chief, Haruhi Suzumiya!" She said, introducing herself before moving on to us mere underlings.

"Itsuki Koizumi, Vice Commander!" Haruhi said. Was she going to go in the same order as before?

"Pleased to meet you." He said, with that smile again. I hope he doesn't find it charming.

"Mikuru Asahina, Moe Mascot!" Haruhi said, moving beside Asahina-san.

Well, my worry Takaishi-san may have found Koizumi's smile pleasant has faded. I know the look he just gave Asahina-san for sure. I can't blame him, but to his credit he looked for only a second!

"H-Hello..." Came the nervous reply.

"Yuki Nagato, Silent Character!" Haruhi moved on.

Yuki looked up from her book again and simply nodded. Unfortunately, I detected a distinct and lingering stare from Takaishi-san. Not unexpected but still it feels alarming.

"Kari you of course know... And finally, Kyon." She motioned towards me.

"Just Kyon?" he asked. Ah, perhaps a chance at last to reveal my real name to someone before they stick me with "Kyon" for the rest of my life!

"Actually, that's a nickname, my real name is..."

"Quiet, Kyon." Haruhi cut me off.

Damn it.


End file.
